


An Applin For Your Love

by Anonymous_Cupcake



Category: Banana Fish (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Pokemon, Ash Lynx Loves Okumura Eiji, Champion Okumura Eiji, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, I forget when things needed to be capitalized so fair warning, Kajicchu | Applin as a Declaration of Love, Lee Yut-Lung & Okumura Eiji are Best Friends, Love Confessions, M/M, Pining Ash Lynx, Pokemon Battles, Pokemon Gym Leader Ash Lynx, Pokemon Gym Leader Lee Yut-Lung, Shorter is here to tease Ash and be supportive, Sort Of, They battle a lot and then become somewhat ok with each other, brief POV Outsider
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-29
Updated: 2020-07-29
Packaged: 2021-03-06 01:01:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,849
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25584841
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Anonymous_Cupcake/pseuds/Anonymous_Cupcake
Summary: The older teen was sitting in what looked like a stadium, crowds of people behind him on the edge of their seats. Ash recognized some of the outfits, Eiji was in his gym. Holy fuck Eiji was in his gym.Eiji was smiling at the camera but his eyes were focused on the field. The caption was something about being lucky to get a good seat. Ash found himself staring at Eiji for way too long, enough for someone to come into the waiting room and remind him that he was supposed to be outside two minutes ago. As he walked outside and was greeted to the sound of screaming fans, there was only one thing on his mind.He might be in love. (Aka the sequel to Choose Your Battles Wisely)
Relationships: Ash Lynx & Shorter Wong, Ash Lynx/Okumura Eiji, Lee Yut-Lung & Okumura Eiji, Lee Yut-Lung & Sing Soo-Ling, Okumura Eiji & Shorter Wong, Sing Soo-Ling & Shorter Wong
Comments: 5
Kudos: 45





	An Applin For Your Love

**Author's Note:**

> Woo finally finished! I feel like it's a bit all over the place but this is what happens when you write most of it around midnight. Hope it's enjoyable regardless! (Also my discord can be found on my profile if you wanna talk about BF, Pokemon, or anything!)

Out of all the places for them to meet again, Ash found Eiji in a tiny bar about three seats away from him. The blond slumped in his seat, leaning back occasionally to watch the Champion stare at his phone. He honestly thought he wouldn't see Eiji again, but here he was. Shorter gasped and shook Ash's shoulders. "Do you see-“

"Yes I see him. I'll give you five bucks later." Ash cut Shorter off, shrugging his hand off. Shorter grinned, "What, you don't want to say hi? Are you still upset he beat your ass last week? Or is it because you still think about him in those shorts?" Ash could his face burn up as Shorter teased him. "You're the one that showed me!" He snapped.

"C'mon, let me help you get over your puppy crush." Shorter decided, getting up and pulling Ash out of his seat. "Hey, wait!" Ash started fixing his hair as Shorter laughed at his attempts to clean up.

He tapped Eiji's shoulder. Ash's eyes drifted to the phone. He was rewatching the match like he said he would. Ash wasn't entirely sure why. Eiji didn't have much to improve.

Eiji looked up at them and smiled. "Oh hey! Shorter, right?" He pointed to Ash's friend, who smiled upon being recognized. For a second Ash thought Eiji didn't recognize him before he turned to look at him. "Ashu Lynx." He said, ending his first name with a vowel.

"Eiji Okumura." Ash smiled back. "Did you get my good side?"

It was meant to be a joke, but Eiji excitedly showed him the video feed. Bits of it were focused purely on Ash's reactions, mainly him seeing a legendary for the first time.

"All sides of you are good." Eiji muttered as he put his phone down. Ash almost didn't hear him.

Shorter sat down in the seat next to Eiji, forcing Ash to keep standing. "So," He started, "what brings you to New York? You thinking about participating in the Gym Challenge? I'd endorse you in a heartbeat!"

"I'm taking a break from difficult battles actually." Eiji replied before quickly adding "Not that I didn't think our battle wasn't hard! It was very challenging!"

"Oh wait, it made global news didn't it? The legendaries wrecking the place?" Shorter asked. Eiji nodded. "The toughest part was trying to catch all three. I'm so glad Quick Balls exist. But yeah, they did destroy a lot of the Gyms back home.The League decided it would be best to repair everything first before starting the Challenge again so I took the opportunity to get away for vacation."

"How long are you staying?" Ash asked. Eiji's phone beeped. "He'll be staying for a year!"

Eiji shoved his phone into his pocket. "Shush!" He looked up at the two sheepishly. "He's right though, I'll be here for about a year. I hope we can hang out more if you guys aren't busy."

Ash hated the shit eating grin on Shorter's face. He wrapped an arm around the Champion. "Of course we're gonna hang out! It'll take some time getting used to Ash's weird battling schedules but we'll make the most of it!" He stood up. "In fact, if you're free right now then we can all hang out at Chang Dai! I don't have work and Ash still has two more hours before they expect him at the Gym."

Eiji looked at both of them. "Is it really alright?" Ash nodded a little too eagerly. "It's perfectly fine."

Eiji thought about it before agreeing. The three of them left the bar, Shorter asking Eiji a million questions about what it was like being Champion.

They were a good distance away from the bar when they were stopped.

"Ash Lynx." A voice said, and it took all of Ash's willpower not to groan. He turned around and glared at the person.

"Yut-Lung." Ash wanted to point out the irony of a snake being the leader of a poison type Gym. He wasn't sure if they were considered rivals. Yut-Lung was just a thorn in his side.

"Don't worry. For once I'm not here for you." He said, pointing a finger at a confused Eiji. "I wanted to see what Japan's Champion looked like."

Yut-Lung examined Eiji carefully and slowly despite how uncomfortable Eiji looked. Eventually he said "A bit plain but I suppose Champions aren't Champions because of their looks."

Never had Ash wanted to slap someone so badly. Eiji nervously adjusted his bag before speaking. "It was nice to meet you, but I have places to be." He said.

Yut-Lung scoffed. "Is the Champion so high and mighty he doesn't want to have a friendly conversation? Either way, I have a proposal for you."

Eiji glanced at Ash and Shorter, unsure if he should listen or walk away. Ash wasn't entirely sure what to do either. You never knew what Yut-Lung was thinking. "I'm listening." Eiji said.

Yut-Lung smiled. "All I ask for is one simple battle. A time and place will be figured out once you agree. I won't ask for anything in return."

Eiji thought it over. One battle couldn't hurt. Against his better judgement he agreed to the battle, sighing as Yut-Lung finally walked away.

"Oh, one more thing." He turned to look at them again, smirking at their annoyed faces.

"Leave your little dog in it's pokeball. Or better yet, leave it in a PC Box. I want a fair battle."

To anyone walking by it would sound like a reasonable request. However, they all knew who Yut-Lung was referring to. That stupid smirk didn't leave his face. "Surprised? You shouldn't be. I have connections all over New York. It would be a shame if an unsavory crowd learned about what kind of pokemon you have with you. Champion or not, they wouldn't be afraid to take it by any means necessary."

The fear in Eiji's eyes was much more visible now. Ash couldn't even lie and say it wasn't true because he knew people that wouldn't hesitate to hurt Eiji just for a pokemon, legendary or not. Now that the damage was done Yut-Lung walked off, reminding the older teen that they would meet again soon.

Once the snake was gone for good, Shorter put his hand on Eiji's shoulder. "Hey, it'll be alright. He lies all the time." He said, and Ash wasn't sure who Shorter was trying to console, himself or Eiji.

Either way the mood was ruined. Ash tried to lighten it up again by warning Eiji about his friend's terrible cooking skills, which made Shorter go on a rant about how his cooking was the best. Soon they were able to start laughing again, Yut-Lung's battle pushed to the back of their minds.

~~~~~~~~~

"I don't know, Ash. There's no way he'll allow you to watch the match." Sing said, absentmindedly petting Litten.

"You have to be able to do something." Ash paced back and forth. Eiji's battle with Yut-Lung was in two days and while it was supposed to be just the two of them, Ash wanted to make sure the battle was fair. He definitely didn't want to see Eiji destroy Yut-Lung.

Sing thought about it. "If I'm not able to convince him to let you watch the match are you going to sneak in?"

Ash shook his head. "Nope."

Two days later, on the day of Eiji's battle, Ash snuck into the gym. At least he was able to piss off Yut-Lung.

" _Fine_ , you can stay." The gym leader groaned as he tied his hair into a ponytail. Ash sat as close to the field as he could be. Eiji walked up to him, smiling.

"Thank you for being here." He whispered before running back to start the match. Just like Ash predicted, Eiji had won. He was crazy prepared too, Ash never saw someone use so many antidotes and full restores in a battle before.

The loss didn't help Yut-Lung's terrible mood either.

"I can see why you're Champion now." He told Eiji through gritted teeth. He left shortly after that, leaving Ash and Eiji alone in the stadium. Ash couldn't help but grimace at the thought of having to explain why there were Dynamax pokemon in the gym at this time. The smile on Eiji's face was blind in. "So," He was practically bouncing up and down, "Did you enjoy the battle?"

Ash couldn't help but smile. "You were awesome."

~~~~~~~~~

"Shorter, I think I'm in love." Sing whined, burying his face into a pillow.

"Aww, Ash! It's baby's first crush!" Shorter teased. Ash smirked. "So, who's the girl that stole your heart?"

Sing's face went bright red. He lifted his head up slightly and muttered "Guy, actually…"

Shorter sat down on the floor next to the younger boy. "Aw, don't be embarrassed! You know we're all hella gay!"

"Bisexual, actually, but the point still stands." Ash added. Shorter shook Sing's shoulder. "Sooo who's the lucky guy?"

"You're gonna laugh at me!" Sing yelled, embarrassed. Shorter shook his head. "I won't laugh! Ash, tell him I won't laugh."

"You laughed at him when he said he wanted to take over your role as gym leader."

"Because I didn't expect him to be so straightforward!" Shorter yelled, face burning as he remembered the incident.

Caught up in their teasing, they almost didn't hear Sing mutter the name of his crush.

"It's Eiji…"

Ash went silent. "Eiji?" He was surprised by how deep his voice became, and it made Sing tense up.

"Yeah I like Eiji! Is there something wrong with that?"

"Nothing wrong with that." Ash forced himself to say. He didn't know why he was acting like this. What was so wrong about Sing having a crush on Eiji? The kid was sixteen, he was bound to get a crush on someone. But the fact it was _Eiji_ made something in Ash's stomach churn.

The next day when Ash was getting ready to enter the stadium his Rotom phone beeped. That was weird. It was usually on mute before battles. "How important is it?" He asked. Rotom opened up Instagram and went straight to Eiji's account, clicking on the newest photo.

The older teen was sitting in what looked like a stadium, crowds of people behind him on the edge of their seats. Ash recognized some of the outfits, Eiji was in his gym. _Holy fuck Eiji was in his gym._

Eiji was smiling at the camera but his eyes were focused on the field. The caption was something about being lucky to get a good seat. Ash found himself staring at Eiji for way too long, enough for someone to come into the waiting room and remind him that he was supposed to be outside two minutes ago. As he walked outside and was greeted to the sound of screaming fans, there was only one thing on his mind.

He might be in love.

~~~~~~~~~

After nearly losing a battle because he had come to the realization he was in love with Japan's Champion, Ash did the only thing he could think of. He told Shorter, who proceeded to laugh at him for being the last person to figure it out.

"Dude, everyone knows you like him. Why do you think Sing stopped talking about his crush on him? I think Eiji is the only person that doesn't realize it." Shorter teased, still clutching his sides. Ash rolled his eyes as he pondered his limited choices. Time went by quicker than he imagined and in just a few months Eiji would be gone. With the time difference and their battle schedules, a long distance relationship would be difficult, but plausible.

Ash buried his face in his hands and groaned. He was already thinking about how to make a currently nonexistent relationship work. Shorter noticed and shook his head sympathetically. "Damn, you're acting like a high schooler."

"Shut up." Ash whined, lightly slapping his friend away. "I don't even know how to ask him. I'm not even sure if I _should_ ask him. I mean..." he removed his hands from his face, using them to make wild gestures as he ranted. "He's a Champion! He'll probably be twice as busy as me and the time difference is thirteen hours!"

Shorter nodded along. "Why don't you go with him?"

"To Japan? And leave the Gym?" Ash asked slowly, and Shorter looked at him like he didn't have a 180 IQ.

"Yes, go to Japan with him. If you're the Champion's boyfriend then the media will absolutely want you to be with him 24/7." He said. "And besides, it'll be a much needed vacation for you. I've seen the way you look at him when he talks about Gizmo."

"It's Izumo." Ash corrected, "But… I don't know."

Shorter grabbed him by the shoulders and looked him in the eye. "Ash, I'm going to be honest with you. I had to watch both of you walk around each other for months and it's _sickening_. If you confess to him, he won't think twice about letting you go back with him. You just gotta take the chance. So, you're going to at least try and confess to him. If he doesn't accept, which is highly unlikely by the way, then I will do whatever you want for a year. Fair?"

Ash simply nodded. Shorter smiled. "Good. Because when he does accept I'm going to be the best man. Now, let's go!"

"Now?"

"Well, no." Shorter grabbed a few empty pokeballs that were lying underneath his couch. "I have a plan and in order for it to work we need a certain someone."

~~~~~~~~~

"Yue, I can't give him this!" Eiji yelled, shoving Applin back into Yut-Lung's arms. He gave Applin a sympathetic look, the poor creature wasn't fond of this push-pull thing they were doing. Yut-Lung groaned. "I didn't go outside on my own to catch an Applin you won't accept. The media is already speculating about why I caught one."

"It's not a fair trade." Eiji tried to defend himself. Yut-Lung wasn't having it. "It's not supposed to be a trade. Applin is yours and then he'll be Ash's because you're going to confess."

Eiji tried to figure out how he got in this position. His unusual friendship with Yut-Lung was part of it. They ended battling a lot throughout the year, and being friends with Sing meant they met each other outside of the stadium more times than they liked. He wasn't sure when but they eventually made a truce.

And then Yut-Lung overheard Eiji tell Sing he had a crush on Ash. As much as the poison type user wasn't a fan of him, he respected Eiji's feelings (and possibly wanted him to shut up about his not so unrequited love). That was why he was in this situation.

"Eiji I swear if you don't take Applin." Yut-Lung continued before Sing entered the room. The kid slammed the door open, wincing at the unexpected force he used. He was getting stronger.

"Shorter called. He said he wanted to know if Eiji wanted to hang out tonight." He told them. "Why didn't he call Eiji?" Yut-Lung asked, to which Sing shrugged.

Yut-Lung put Applin on top of Eiji's head while the Champion was distracted. "Perfect. Go out, get Ash alone, and confess. Applin are perfect for this and if Ash is the romantic Sing thinks he is, then he will adore this."

"I don't think so, I know so." Sing added. Eiji looked at them both before sighing and holding Applin in his arms.

"Alright. I'll do it."

~~~~~~~~~

"I can't do this." Ash thought as he held his bag. The only content in it was a single pokeball. He spent nearly an hour with Shorter trying to find an Applin. They were harder to find then they thought. The pokemon was sleeping in his new home, unaware of how close his trainer was to fainting.

Eiji and Ash were standing in the middle of an empty stadium. Shorter took them out for dinner ("My treat." He had said while winking at Ash) before promptly abandoning them and making a weak excuse about needing to help Nadia with something.

"Don't worry about me! Just enjoy the surprise!" He said before dashing off.

Eiji, thank goodness, seemed to not notice how suspicious Shorter's disappearance was. "What surprise was he talking about?" He asked Ash.

The blond shrugged. The dimmed lights that illuminated the stadium were slightly pink. He couldn't help but sigh. Of course Shorter would go the extra mile.

If he didn't say anything now things might get awkward.

"I have something to tell you-"

"大好き!"

They both stared at each other before laughing and apologizing for interrupting. 

"You go first." Eiji said, and Ash wasn't sure if he could. Without thinking he grabbed the pokeball out of his bag and held it out.

"Um, I'm not sure if people in Japan do this but here we, um," He bit his lip. He couldn't back down now! "Applin, come out." He whispered. The apple-like pokemon jumped out, landing in Eiji's now outstretched arms.

"Applins are our way of confessing to people we like. Eiji, I love you." Eiji stared at the pokemon in his arms and Ash continued, "I know it's only been a year but if you let me, I want to spend the rest of my life with you."

"Ash…" Eiji started and he braced himself for rejection. Instead, the teen handed him a pokeball.

"大好き means I like you." The pokeball opened and a similar Applin jumped out. Ash swore he stopped breathing for a moment.

"Oh- Ash don't cry!" Eiji cried, using a hand to wipe away tears Ash didn't realize were falling.

"I… I'm just so happy." He managed to say. Eiji tilted his head up to kiss Ash's forehead. "I also want to spend the rest of my life with you."

"You mean it?"

"Of course I mean it. In fact, I was thinking about extending my vacation for a few more months."

~~~~~~~~~

Izzy was exhausted, dizzy, and fairly certain her pigtails were messed up. What kind of Gym made you sit in a spinny teacup just to get to the stadium? One that wanted to torture its trainers before battle. She wasn't sure if she should ask to sit down for a minute.

"Woo! Aren't you excited for this?" X yelled in excitement. Izzy barely knew X. For some reason they had to ride that damn teacup together and he was the main reason why she felt so sick. She wondered what kind of parents thought it was a good idea to name their child a letter of the alphabet. The French she decided based off of his faint accent. 

"Nope." She answered his question, smiling at the congratulatory sound that played when they arrived at the stairs. Once they changed into uniforms they would get to battle the Gym Leader. X whined. "How are you not excited? All of the Leaders so far have been amazing!"

"Well, this Leader is this the reason so many of us give up the Challenge. You never heard of Ash Lynx?" Izzy asked. X shook his head, pitch black hair bouncing up and down with the movement. She pitied him, he had no idea how tough the upcoming battle would be.

Thinking this would be the last time they would be, she shook his hand. They ended up walking onto the field together, just as confused as the crowd of people watching. "They don't do double battles often, huh?" X whispered as they stood in the center. A shiver went down Izzy's spine. This _was_ a Ghost type Gym. Maybe Ash Lynx decided to do something new and they would be the first ones to experience it. As if this wouldn't be hard enough.

Before they could question it too much, they were approached by two trainers. The crowd screamed when they recognized Ash Lynx. Who wouldn't be able to recognize him (besides X) when he looked like a model? She wasn't familiar with the teen next to him though. He looked like X, except his skin was much lighter and he didn't wear glasses or have a gap in his teeth. She recognized the pattern on his uniform, it was for Flying types.

Ash Lynx was the first to speak. Usually he had a calm and sometimes scary look, like he was addressing a gang instead of a crowd of fans. But not today. Today he had the biggest smile Izzy ever saw, like someone had hung all the stars in the sky for him.

"I hope no one minds that we're doing things slightly different today." He said, and Izzy noticed that his arm was around the other teen's waist. "We wanted to change things up considering today will be my last day as a Gym Leader."

Last day? Izzy wasn't sure if that would be a good thing or bad thing later on. The blond continued, "And if you're wondering why…"

He turned to the teen, waiting for some sort of approval. After a nod, the entire crowd gasped as Ash leaned forward and planted a soft kiss on his lips. It felt like she was invading something personal, that she should look away. With Ash distracted (distracted! She never would've imagined that), the teen turned to the crowd and waved sheepishly.

"Um, hi! If you don't know, I'm Okumura Eiji and I'm Ash's boyfriend."

"You should've started with Japan's Champion." Ash said, pulling Eiji impossibly closer to him.

The word "Champion" made the crowd go feral. Izzy should've bought those noise cancellation headphones she saw on sale. X looked at her, eyes wide. "Do you not realize what this means?" He didn't wait for a response. "Champions are pretty much legendary status. If a Champion said someone isn't going to be a Leader, they won't be a Leader."

That was news to Izzy. It was a lot of power to give someone, but that would explain why there weren't a lot of them.

Eiji sighed. "Ok fine, Japan's Champion and Ash's boyfriend. Regardless, we're changing things up today! Do people still enjoy double battles?" The crowd yelled louder to confirm. He smiled, "Good! Will you two be ok battling together?"

Izzy turned to X. He had a decent team, and hers wasn't that bad either. They had to have put some kind of regulations on the type of pokemon Eiji could use, so they probably had a decent chance at winning. It wasn't everyday you could battle a Champion before getting all the badges.

"Whaddya say?" He asked, a toothy grin appearing again. "Think we can beat them?"

Izzy had some experience battling couples. This would go one of two ways. Either they're complete opposites and they could crush them one by one, or they'd work well and in sync and they'd be royally screwed. The odds weren't in their favor.

She smiled. "Let's give it a shot."

**Author's Note:**

> I legit made Izzy up on the spot and X is just a gender bent version of the character I made for Pokemon X but I would be lying if I said I don't love them.
> 
> Also, not sure if anyone cares but Shorter was the leader of the Dragon type gym in case anyone was wondering


End file.
